Chris Lombardi puts defense and security under the spotlight, as he shares his takes on recent NATO and EU cooperation and provides insight into the company’s own long-term strategic partnerships in Europe.

Three trends are currently driving the global electricity sector: decarbonization, decentralization and differentiation. Utilities are making significant contributions to mitigate carbon emissions, while a technology revolution is …

On Monday (2 May) Koizumi will meet with representatives from the European Commission, Council of Ministers and EU presidency in Luxembourg for the regular EU-Japan summit.

It will be the first ever visit to the Grand Duchy by a Japanese prime minister.

Before arriving in Europe, Koizumi will visit India, where he also hopes to garner support for the UN bid.

Despite vocal Chinese opposition, India, a fellow Security Council hopeful, has agreed to back Japan’s application in return for Japan’s support for its own UN bid.

But despite much common ground between the EU and Japan on issues such as development aid, multilateralism and the rule of law, some observers say that the EU could still be reluctant to support Japan’s bid.

According to Willem van der Geest, the director of the Brussels-based European Institute for Asian Studies, Japan’s increasingly close relationship with Washington could affect EU thinking.

“As long as Japan takes a completely US line, I don’t see any interest from the EU side in Japan being a member of the Security Council,” he said.

With tensions rising in East Asia, Japan recently sought to align itself further with Washington.

A high-profile supporter of the war in Iraq, Tokyo recently sought to close any gap between itself and the US over support for Taiwan.

But with Germany itself bidding to become a Security Council member and Italy actively campaigning against Germany’s membership, the EU is unlikely to be able to hold a common line.

Aside from support for a seat at the Security Council, Koizumi is also likely to press for the EU not to lift its arms embargo against China.